The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
The fascinating, yet rarely-visited town of Monywa lies just to the west of Mandalay in Burma’s (Myanmar’s) Sagaing Division. As usual, on our Southeast Asia tours, the issue isn’t which destinations to include but rather which ones time restraints force us to omit. There are myriad wonderful sites to be seen but if you included everything the tour would last…
Burmese ghosts, or nats as they are known locally, are spirits of people who died under tragic circumstances and who have remained earthbound so….what, in English, we would call ghosts. However, in Burma/Myanmar they take on a whole other significance and have shrines, statues, images, festivals dedicated to them. There’s even an ‘official’ list of the country’s 37 major recognised…
Generally included in any standard Inle Lake tour itinerary we reckon this fascinating site, located slightly upriver at the southwestern corner of the Lake, is one of the highlights of the region. The boat trip is picturesque, the surrounding scenery bucolic, the ancient pagodas highly photogenic and the friendly local Pa-O people welcoming and fun. In Dein is a village,…
Located in Burma’s western Shan State and famous for mountain scenery, floating gardens and the unusual rowing techniques of local fishermen Lake Inle is certainly one of Burma’s top tourist destinations. Either a very long drive from Mandalay or Bagan – or even longer from Rangoon – most visitors inevitably arrive by Heho Airport, an hour or so from the…
Burma When’s the best time to go? A frequently asked question but not an easily answered one and at the risk of doing some unapologetic fence-sitting we’d say every season has its pros and cons. Broadly speaking Burma’s climate falls into 3 general seasons: rainy, dry cool and dry hot, though of course in such a large and geographically varied…
Kipling famously described Burma as being ‘quite unlike any land you know about’ and the remote Shan State outpost of Kengtung is certainly quite unlike any Burmese town you’d know about. You’ll rarely hear Burmese spoken; few locals wear longyis, you won’t see many girls sporting thanaka paste, there’s little Burmese food and the usually ubiquitous Aung San Suu Kyi…
The first time our Moulmein guide suggested a visit to see some rubber band making we have to confess to be considerably less than enthusiastic! “Rubber bands – elastic bands!?” “Yes, really – very interesting and not far – just a short visit, very good”. Think it must have been the ‘not far’ part that convinced us but a great…
The second batch of photos taken by Wi on her recent 2-week Discover Burma tour includes some of her wonderful portraits of a few of the characters encountered en-route and, in case you missed the previous set of landscape photos, here’s the link. The Pa-O, like many people in Burma, are big fans of the betel nut but…
Another Asian cuisine that’s sadly little-known outside of the country so here’s a list of 10 Burmese dishes not to be missed on any Burma (Myanmar) tour. You’ll find all the fresh herbs of Thai cooking; lemongrass, ginger, galangal, coriander, chillies, the spices, pulses and bread of Indian food, distinct Chinese influences and plenty of unique local flavours which, combined,…
A selection of Burma rainy season photos. Just finished another great Burma tour but as usual internet possibilities are limited over there so with a fairly massive mail backlog to clear we’ll stick to a post with lots of pics and minimal text, (phew!) Rainy season travel meant a small group size though we’ve already highlighted the benefits of travelling…
Moulmein (Mawlamyine to use the modern name), was famously immortalised by Rudyard Kipling in the line, “By the old Moulmein pagoda lookin’ lazy at the sea….” Of course, the poem was actually called Mandalay, not Moulmein, and neither is the correct title the Road to Mandalay as many assume. Well, you can still sit by the old pagoda and look…
A selection of Wi’s Burma photographs taken on her smartphone shows you don’t need a great camera to take great pix – just a good eye and the right place at the right time we guess. There are some awesome Burma photos here but the post is a bit of an excuse really to let everyone know that you can…
A superb set of Martin’s Burma Photographs we gratefully received from him taken on our recent Discover Burma tour, “….quite unlike any land you know about”. Glad you enjoyed the trip Martin and thanks very much for the photos. All pics by Martin with captions and additional text from All Points East. Rangoon’s circular train describes a large loop through…
Portraits of Burma is a short selection of photographs by Wi, taken on her recent Discover Burma tour, “…quite unlike any land you know about”. (A quote from Kipling of course!) So, in no particular order and without further ado… The ubiquitous pink-clad Buddhist nuns are a sight that you won’t see elsewhere in Southeast Asia despite Burma sharing its…
A selection of Peter’s Burma photographs. Many thanks to Peter for allowing us to share a selection of his superb Burma photographs taken on a 2012 Burma tour. In no particular order then with all photos taken by Peter Tilsley and additional comments from All Points East………… First up an atmospheric dusk shot of the highly picturesque and photogenic U…
Nga Tong -a delicious kind of spicy fish dip or paste that’s served as a side dish or accompaniment to Burmese meals and which is actually exceptionally easy to make. Now we’re talking about a fresh fish dish, bearing no resemblance whatever to, for instance, Cambodia’s notorious fermented fish dip, prahok. Prahok is infamous for its main ingredient – a…
Burma’s picturesque Inle Lake has numerous fascinating sites on offer to visitors: the lakeside markets and stilt villages, ethnic minorities, temples, myriad handicraft and traditional ‘cottage industries’ to check out and the amazing ruins of the old Shan city at In Dein but it’s two most famous sites are probably the floating gardens plus the unusual fishermen who row with…
If these fantastic stagecoaches were to be found in any other country apart from Burma then we reckon they’d certainly be housed in museums. Now contrary to what you may imagine they are not used to give tourists rides but are a genuine form of local transport in the former old, (and near unpronounceable), British hill-station of Pyin U Lwin….
Hiking in the Shan Hills; a few photos and brief description. Firstly many thanks to our awesome local guide Moe Zaw for designing and testing what proved to be an excellent hiking trail close to the small town of Kalaw on the Shan Plateau. Despite terrain seen below, (i.e. picturesque but hilly!), he managed to find us a predominantly flat…
Caves are what the small Burmese, Shan Plateau town of Pindaya is famous for! So, we had intended to write about the famous and spectacular cave temples but seem to have filled most of the post up with cabbage photos so – we’ll call this one ‘the road to Pindaya’ and post a separate temple piece afterwards. The 1-hour drive…